DIGITAL EDITION

Banking on Traffic

(October 2006) posted on Fri Oct 27, 2006

Mammoth Media uses HP Scitex Grand to help Bank of America turn heads on the highway.

click an image below to view slideshow

Advertising placed adjacent to a major interstate is a great way to catch the eyes of thousands of commuters each day. With an eye toward generating new customers, Bank of America snatched a prime location in Boston, right next to I-93"?ad space on a tower with a frame system permanently installed just to display these types of wraps. The space was rented from Direct Media, which outsourced the print job to Mammoth Media.

Known for its building wraps and transit media, Mammoth Media has in-house a 134-in. HP Scitex Grand, a Vutek UltraVu 2360, Mimaki JV3 2500, and HP Designjet 5000, as well as an Agfa Anapurna XL flatbed that was delivered as this article was written. In addition, the shop has a Seal 62Plus and GBC Falcon laminator.

Production

Mammoth understood up-front that the challenge for this job would be the location"?s height as well as the ever-present wind"?200 ft straight up and 35+ mph velocities. With that in mind, "We went to the job site with the client and the installer to spec the right media and the proper finishing,"? says Kenneth Rowell, vice president of Mammoth Media. "We looked at where the current hanging mesh was failing and decided how we could improve the life of the print."?

The key here, concluded Mammoth, would be the right media, along with reinforced pockets and face seams. "We had used Verseidag on a nearby building at an even higher height and had great success with its durability in that environment."

There was an additional challenge as well: Bank of America required very specific Pantone color matches. Mammoth used its X-Rite Pulse Color Elite profiling system to match the colors, did any necessary color correction, added a bleed, and prepped the files for press.

The images were loaded onto the shop's 134-in. HP Scitex Grand, fitted with Scitex inks and OEM RIP. Mammoth produced one 28 x 70- and two 27 x70-ft banners on Verseidag seemee Mesh Supreme, for a total of 5740 sq ft. The banners took 20 hr to print and another 10 hr to weld the pockets and face seams with its Leister welder. The unlaminated banners took 2 days to install and are expected to last for 6 to 12 months.

Comment

"The largest problem was the wind"?there is a constant 35 mph wind at all times. The prints are 200 ft in the air, so they receive a lot of abuse,"? says Rowell.